In the Bloodstream
by EverAfterGirl
Summary: Maddie notices something unusual about her son's wound. Why is Danny bleeding ectoplasm? Revelation fic. Oneshot.


**So I have no idea where this came from or why, but here we are. I didn't reread it, so if there are any spelling/grammar errors, I apologize. I kind of just word vomited this on the page. Let me know what you think.**

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Maddie felt victorious. Not only had she finally managed to corner her usually MIA son, but she'd somehow talked him into helping her prepare dinner. Truth be told, she didn't need the help. What she needed was some personal time with her son.

He'd seemed reluctant at first, but then again, he'd be very flighty in general lately. Maddie wondered if it had something to do with stress from school, and had made a note to self to reach out to Mr. Lancer about different extra credit opportunities. She knew that she and Jack could sometimes be hard on him about his grades, but the plummet they'd taken in the last few years was unprecedented.

It was as if he'd simply given up. She couldn't accept that - Fentons were not quitters. So there had to be something else going on. She'd noticed he was often nursing minor injuries, and despite his claims they were from clumsiness - she suspected bullying was a real concern for her boy.

Danny was good kid, and she knew he was gentle and kind-hearted. No doubt if a bully was targeting him, he'd be unlikely to fight back. While she couldn't condone the idea of her son acting violently, she wished he would stand up for himself. She hated the idea of him getting hurt.

"What do you need me to do next," At the sound of his voice, she brushed the thoughts from her mind.

He'd startled her, somehow managing to move beside her silently. She fought back a shiver, telling herself she'd merely been unobservant. Preoccupied by her concerns.

"Here," she instructed, handing him a knife. "Cut up the tomatoes for the sauce, I've got just about everything else ready for it."

Pasta night in the Fenton household was a tradition. It was the one night of the week when there was a mutual agreement not to use ectoplasm in the food preparation. That had been Jazz's suggestion, and Maddie could admit it was the most popular night with her children. With how distant they'd been lately, she was more than happy to comply with their rule if it meant they showed up for dinner.

Danny always seemed especially happy with pasta night. He seemed to have something against the ectoplasmic cooking methods, though she knew they were perfectly safe for humans. She suspected it was the glow that threw him off, despite her reassurances that it was completely harmless. He never ate much.

They prepared the meal in silence. Maddie could hear the slice of the knife as Danny obediently cut up the ingredients.

"Do I just throw these in the pot?" He asked.

"Yes, sweetie! Thank you," she replied, gathering up the rest of the sliced vegetables. She turned to add them to the sauce just in time to see Danny dump the tomatoes in.

He must have gotten some of the juice on his shirt, because a red stain was blooming on his lower abdomen. Come to think of it, the stain looked a little too dark to be tomato juice.

"Danny," she started, earlier fears rushing back to her in an instant. "Come here."

His eyes widened, and something she couldn't place flashed across them. _Was that fear? Anxiety?_ He didn't move, but his entire posture stiffened.

"Danny," she repeated, this time softening her tone, "Are you okay?"

At this, he seemed to snap out of whatever was bothering him. He lifted an arm and rubbed the back of his neck, a tell tale sign of nervousness he'd always had. "Fine, why do you ask?"

"You're acting strange," she said, motioning for him to come closer.

He did, blue eyes still looking weirdly hesitant as he walked over to her. His messy dark hair fell in his eyes as he walked, masking their expression. When he swatted it away, his eyes were blank as if nothing had happened. It was eerie.

"That's not a food stain. Lift up your shirt right now, young man." Maddie ordered, pointing to the suspicious red blotch on his T-shirt.

Danny looked down, seeming confused. When his eyes hit the stain in question, he froze as if startled.

Maddie hoped that meant her fears were wrong. If her baby boy was injured, he'd surely have known. That left the possibility of the russet stain being someone else's blood though, and she wasn't ready for that discussion either.

"Now." She repeated, tone growing stern.

He sighed heavily, grasping the bottom seam of his shirt. "Don't freak out," he warned her before lifting it up. Underneath was bandage that was soaked through with blood. The adhesive was failing and it was barely sticking to his skin. Danny looked at it and frowned, before peeling it off and tossing it in the trash bin behind him.

Maddie gasped, taking in the sight of the nasty looking wound that was underneath. It was crudely stitched together by someone who must not be skilled in sutchering. The area around it was red and irritated, and cracks in the dried blood gave way to fresher streams of it. The scientist in her couldn't help wondering if the wound was infected. With the quality of the stitches, who knew how sanitary the needle had been?

The strangest part of the wound, however, was that some radioactive green fluid was mixed in with the blood. The two colors ran together, seeming to originate from the same source. That couldn't be right, she reasoned, shaking the thought from her mind. It was probably some sort of bodily reaction to an infection.

"Danny…" she breathed, horror filling her gut. Her child had been injured and she hadn't known. He hadn't trusted her enough to come to her for help. He hadn't even seen a real doctor. "We need to take you to a hospital, right now."

He started to object and she cut him off. "Don't think you're getting out of explaining this either, mister. Now, get in the car."

"No." The word escaped his lips in a whisper, but there was a degree of force to it that took her aback. He dropped the hem of his shirt back down, obscuring the wound from her sight.

"What do you mean, no? That is clearly infected!" She almost screamed, aware that her voice was becoming hysterical. She was vaguely aware of the smell of burning food on the stove, but made no move to turn anything off.

Danny sighed, long and hard. He backed up a bit, leaning his weight against the kitchen counter. He ran his hands through his hair, grimacing as he contemplated something. Slowly, something like determination seemed to fill his blue eyes. He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before repeating, "No."

Maddie was stunned. Danny had never been one to fight authority, especially that of his parents. He was a respectful kid, and he'd always shown it. Why was he now trying to question her?

Before she could say anything, he spoke again. "No, it is not an infection. I'm not going to the doctor - I can't go to a doctor. Not ever again."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's infected, it's leaking some kind of green discharge-"

Danny raised a hand to cut her off, once more. "It's not 'discharge,'" he said, making a face at the word as if repulsed. "It's ectoplasm. Since it's your life's work, don't you recognize it?"

She didn't know what to say to that. Ectoplasm? Coming from her son's wound? How on Earth would that even be possible? It couldn't be possible. She was the leading expert, she knew it wasn't possible. Something in her pride wouldn't allow her to accept his words. Of course she would be able to recognize ectoplasm. No ghost hunter worth anything would be dumb enough to mistake ectoplasm for anything else than what it was.

"Show me again." The demand left her lips before she was aware she was going to speak.

Danny bit his lip, earlier nerves resurfacing as he did what she asked. She could tell he was trying to put on a defensive front, she just wasn't sure why.

Walking over, she looked closer at the wound. Once again, she had to fight back the urge to gag at the gruesome sight. She forced herself to concentrate on the green substance. It _was_ glowing, that couldn't be denied. She touched it, the familiar coldness brushing her fingertips. It felt like a thick gel, and as she rubbed it between her fingers she had to accept the truth.

"Ectoplasm."

"Yeah," was all he said.

"How are you bleeding _ectoplasm_?" At the last word, her voice rose an octave.

Danny ignored her, switching off the handles to the stove. "You're gonna have to order pizza or something, this sauce is blackened." He gave her a forced grin.

"Daniel James Fenton, do not change the subject."

"It's why I can't go to a doctor, mom." He sighed again, not meeting her eyes. "I always bleed blood and ectoplasm - it's how my body works."

It wasn't coming together. She hated not having a theory, she hated not understanding the facts. She hated that Danny wouldn't explain things clearly.

"That's not possible."

He shrugged, as if unsurprised by her answer. "You know, this is not at all how I pictured this conversation happening. In the millions of scenarios and nightmares I've had about it - never once was I found out while we were making dinner. It's actually kind of stupid."

She couldn't stand the way he sidestepped her questions. Now he was talking about having nightmares talking to her, and that scared her. "What are you talking about?"

He worked his jaw up and down as if steeling himself to do something unpleasant. Then he finally met her eyes. "When someone dies violently, they become a ghost. They then bleed ectoplasm. What do you think happens if someone dies - just not all the way? If their body shuts down exactly halfway, and they get stuck on that line in between life and death?"

Maddie shook her head. Nothing he was saying was making any sense. "That's impossible, you can't die halfway."

"Theoretically, what would they bleed?"

She felt sick. She had a guess at what he was trying to say, but she couldn't wrap her mind around the idea. It wasn't possible. When she didn't respond, he repeated himself again. This time, she said, "Blood and ectoplasm."

He nodded, searching her expression for something. She just wasn't sure what.

"I'm half ghost."

The silence that hung in the air after his confession was almost tangible. They stared at one another, saying nothing. The clock on the wall seemed to tick a an ear-splitting volume as the seconds went by.

Maddie opened her mouth several times to say something. To tell him he was ridiculous. To say it wasn't possible. To suggest he go to counseling. Instead, she found herself asking, "Can you prove it?"

In response, his eyes lit of a bright, neon green. Ectoplasmic energy surged around his hands for a moment, before he let it all dissipate. Maddie felt her heart pick up as fear surged through her as she found herself accepting the reality. Half ghosts existed - and her son was one. Once again blue eyes searched hers, and the silence returned.

"How…" _Is that possible? Can you do that?_ She couldn't speak past the first word.

He seemed relieved by the fact that she hadn't reacted much. She realized he must have expected a gun trained on him, and her heart sunk at the thought. Part ghost….in a family of ghost hunters no less. He must have been terrified of her.

"The portal - I turned it on from the inside."

"And that…" Her voice broke.

"Killed me? Halfway, I guess."

Maddie found her arms around his neck before she had time to process the decision to do so. This was her little boy and to a degree, he was dead. It was terrifying and her heart ached at the thought. She supposed she should count her blessings that he wasn't entirely dead. She felt him tense underneath her, and once more she remembered what her profession must mean to him. She let go, slowly, then backed away.

"Danny, dear, I'm so sorry. I don't really know what to say, except I love you no matter what. You know that, right?"

Those must have been the magic words, because his lips lifted up into a faint smile at the edges. Yet there was still a hardness to his expression that alarmed her.

"You have no idea how much it means to me to hear that, but there's more you should know," he said. "Half my DNA is ghost. That means…" He seemed to struggle with the next bit.

"You have a ghost form where the DNA is dominant?" She supplied, logic pointing her in this direction.

He nodded.

"Can I see?"

Silence once more. Then he spoke, "Give me all the ghost weapons you have on you - right now."

That stung. Did he really think she would shoot at him? That thought gave way to a new fear - had she shot at him in the past?

She did as he asked, even going so far as to remove the laser lipstick she stored in her boot. She took off her gloves, and in an effort to show she meant no harm, backed away from the knives on the kitchen counter.

At this, Danny let out a sigh of relief. Then, a bright white ring appeared around his middle. His expression tensed and he said, "Whatever you do - don't freak out. It's me, I promise. I'm still me."

She nodded numbly as the ring split in two and travel in both directions, exposing a familiar HAZMAT suit. When the rings revealed the iconic white hair of the ghost kid, she felt dizzy. Her son...was Phantom.

"Mom," he asked, voice full of concerned. She couldn't deny it - the voice was the same. The expression was recognizably Danny's face. The similarities of the two identities hit her at once.

He walked over to her, and she fought the urge to flinch as her old target drew near. "Look," he said, raising the corner of his shirt to reveal a wound identical to Danny's. It was primarily leaking ectoplasm, with small rivets of red blood. Like everything else with this form, it was the negative of her Danny.

So it really was true. They were one and the same. She had never felt so….guilty. She'd shot at her son, yelled threats at him for years, and made him fear his own family.

His neon green eyes were expectant, but the fear was also there. Just under the surface. She forced herself to step closer, raising a hand slowly to touch his face. When she came in contact with the dead chill of ghost skin, she had to fight down the feeling of revulsion that overtook her.

She could clearly see her son in this face, and the last thing she wanted to do was drive him further away. She gave him a small smile, before pulling him into a tight hug. Her whole body screamed to let go, the unnatural cold of his body unnerving her. She refused to let it show.

 _This moment is important._ She knew. _If I show even a hint of reluctance, I could lose him forever._

When she pulled back, she was greeted with an ecstatic face. His green eyes were filled with a level of joy she hadn't seen in her son in years. In that moment, she vowed to be supportive in any way that she could. She missed seeing that sort of confidence from her boy, and she would defend it in any way that she could.

"So, uhh…." He said, breaking the quiet. "Want me to fly to store? Pick up some ingredients to start this over?" He gestured a gloved hand to the mess the kitchen had become. "I have a feeling we have a lot to talk about."

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 **Like it? Hate it? It was a weird one to write - I'd love to hear your thoughts.**


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